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Angelique Kerber: another impressive early 2018 showing

By Harry Floyd

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - FEBRUARY 22: Angelique Kerber of Germany in action during her quarter final match against Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic on day four of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship at the Dubai Tennis Stadiumon on February 22, 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - FEBRUARY 22: Angelique Kerber of Germany in action during her quarter final match against Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic on day four of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship at the Dubai Tennis Stadiumon on February 22, 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) /
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Angelique Kerber is out of the Dubai Tennis Championships but not before completing yet another impressive early 2018 run at a WTA event.

Angelique Kerber is knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the semifinals. She falls to Elina Svitolina in straight sets. The top seeded Svitolina defeats Kerber 6-3, 6-3.

Despite her loss in the semis this week, Kerber is off to a fantastic start on the 2018 WTA Tour. After an up and down 2017 season, the German tennis star is poised to have a breakout year. In 2016, she reached career heights by winning both the Australian Open and the US Open. Now, she looks to top the rankings in women’s singles yet again.

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Kerber has seen solid runs in all four of her WTA tournaments so far in 2018. She also put on quite the performance at the Hopman Cup before jumping into the WTA events. Currently, the German tennis star sits at the world No. 9 ranking in women’s singles and should be moving up in the coming weeks.

Angelique Kerber is a former world No. 1 on the WTA Tour.

Svitolina moves on at the Dubai Tennis Championships. She faces Daria Kasatkina of Russia next. Kasatkina is fresh off of a huge win over second seeded Garbine Muguruza. Svitolina, however, is the defending champion in women’s singles at the Dubai Tennis Championships. She looks to retain her title tomorrow in the finals.

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As for Angelique Kerber, the German tennis star appears in fantastic form so far on the 2018 WTA Tour. At 30-years-old, she has a vast amount of experience to go along with her brilliant talent. Kerber is without a doubt one of the best players in women’s singles tennis right now. Despite the onslaught on several young up and coming stars in the sport, Kerber remains one of the top players to beat on tour. Stay tuned to see if the German great can maintain her newfound momentum moving forward. If so, she must be considered a favorite in any of the upcoming Grand Slam events on the WTA Tour. The two major tournaments she is yet to win are the French Open and Wimbledon. Previously, Kerber reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and came up just short in the finals at Wimbledon. This year could be where she changes that.

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